Craft Corner

Simple Tutorial i found, would be good for ritual gear :) Enjoy & blessed be. 

~ Butterbeer ~

 How about something different? No one will claim that butterbeer is a real Pagan recipe of course... but the one thing that can be agreed upon is that we all love Harry Potter! So enjoy some butterbeer on me!

Start to finish: 1 hour (10 minutes active)
Servings: 4


Ingredients:

1 cup light or dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
6 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
3/4 cup heavy cream, divided
1/2 teaspoon rum extract
Four 12-ounce bottles cream soda


In a small saucepan over medium, combine the brown sugar and water. Bring to a gentle boil and cook, stirring often, until the mixture reads 240 F on a candy thermometer.

Stir in the butter, salt, vinegar and 1/4 heavy cream. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Once the mixture has cooled, stir in the rum extract.

In a medium bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar mixture and the remaining 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Use an electric mixer to beat until just thickened, but not completely whipped, about 2 to 3 minutes.

To serve, divide the brown sugar mixture between 4 tall glasses (about 1/4 cup for each glass). Add 1/4 cup of cream soda to each glass, then stir to combine. Fill each glass nearly to the top with additional cream soda, then spoon the whipped topping over each.

Enjoy. Blessed be

~ Lord of the Underworld - Hades Mocktails ~

Need warming up on a cold night? if so why not try some hades!
Ingredients:

2 cups cranberry juice, chilled
1/2 cup apple juice, chilled
1/4 cup grenadine
1 1/2 cups seltzer water, chilled
1 tube red candy gel


Directions:

In a pitcher combine the cranberry juice, apple juice and grenadine. Stir together then add the seltzer water.

Squeeze the candy gel onto a small plate. Rim the edges of 4 low-ball glasses in the candy gel. Pour in the drink evenly into the glasses.

*Alcohol can be added if you wish.

Enjoy. Blessed be 

~Something sweet for yule~

you will need:
candles
cinnamon sticks 
string

Tie cinnamon sticks around your candles. the heated cinnamon makes your house smell amazing. Fills the air with a scent of yule. Makes for great rustic decor as well.

~ Create A Faerie Night light ~

Start with a mason jar with a lid (a spaghetti jar works well too!). Gather some diamond glitter (glittery pieces of glass or plastic thats the size of resin incense - can be found it craft stores). Break a glow stick and pur the liquid over the glittery pieces Shake up the mixture and tada... instant faerie night light! Have fun and be creative! Blessed Be! )O(

~Mulled Mead~

(non alcoholic)
Ingredients:
1 quart of water
1 cup of honey
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of ginger
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

add all ingredients to pan, boil, as a skin forms scrape it away & continue to stir until skin ceases to form.
allow to cool and drink

great for maboh, Samhain & yule

~Rye Bread~ 
a Samhain recipe
1 packet yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup warm water
1 quart warm water
3 cups rye flour
2 tablespoons salt
3 tablespoons caraway seeds
1 tablespoon melted shortening
9 cups all purpose flour

Dissolve yeast and sugar in the 1/4 cup of warm water, set aside and let stand until frothy. Pour the quart of water in a large bowl, and add the rye flour, salt, caraway seeds, shortening, and yeast mixture. Mix well. Let rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours, until bubbles start to form on dough's surface. Gradually mix in the all-purpose flour, until the mixture has become a firm dough. Knead on floured board for about 10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl and let rise until the dough doubles in size, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Knead again for 10 minutes. Form into 2 loaves and put in greased and floured loaf pans or on cookie sheets for a more natural look. Let them rise again until doubled in bulk, and then bake for 1 hour at 375 degrees.

~Festival Fruited Ribs ~


3 pounds beef/pork ribs
2 tbs. shortening
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/3 cup finely chopped carrot
1/2 cup red Burgundy
1 clove garlic, minced
1-11oz package mixed dried fruit
3 tbs. all purpose flour

Meaty side down, place in shallow roasting pan. Bake at 450 degrees for 30 minutes. Season with a little salt and pepper. Add onion, carrot, garlic, and burgundy. Cover and reduce heat to 350 degrees, bake for another hour. Meanwhile, pour 1 1/2 cups of hot water over the fruit in a non-metal bowl. Let it stand for the hour. Drain the fruit, reserving the liquid. Place the fruit over the meat. Cover and bake for another 45 minutes. Remove meat and fruit to a platter. Skim fat from pan juices. Add reserved liquid to juices. Blend flour and 1/3 cup cold water in a sauce pan, stir in pan juice mixture. Cook and stir over medium heat until thick and bubbly. Pour over ribs and serve hot.
Makes 6 servings.

~Samhain Tree~ 

Find and cut a gnarly old twisted, twiggy branch from a tree.
Spray paint it black and then use screws to attach the cut end to a piece of plywood also painted black.
Now, you know the cobweb stuff you can buy at this time of year? Get some of that and puff and clump it to make “fog” around the base of the tree. You can also take some thin strands to weave through the twig “branches” to make spider webs.
On old looking pieces of yellowed parchment paper (available at any stationery, office or computer supply store) that have been cut into small squares, write the names of deceased family members and ancestors – one name on each square of parchment. Another option is to actually print out small photos of your loved ones.
Using whatever glue you have on hand, glue more black twigs around each piece of parchment to create a frame. You can make some frames square, others round, some octagonal – whatever!
Take some natural brown twine and glue that onto the frames to create a loop for hanging the names from the “branches” of your ancestor tree.

It’s fun to dress your tree up with little seasonal decorations that you find in stores at this time: small plastic spiders, owls and crows, tiny skeletons or skulls or even make little ghosts out of tissue paper or gauze fabric to hang from the branches between the names and photos.

You can even try hanging one treat on each name and then before getting the treat, ask your child to remember and tell you something about that person. If your child is very young, you can adjust this to letting them hear a little story about that person as they enjoy the treat.
The Ancestor Tree makes a nice altar decoration and can be surrounded by more old photographs and mementos handed down through the family.